My recent family vacation was fantastic on all fronts. My wife and I, along with our three teenagers, enjoyed the week together, yet were anxious to be heading home. My boys wanted to make it home to watch the big game specifically, but everyone was starting to get hungry. We knew the refrigerator was empty at home, but were tired of eating out from the week away. We wanted something good, fast, and we could all enjoy together — not an easy order to fill.
Guaranteed in Real Time or Less
As my wife was driving, I pulled out my iPhone and opened the app of our favorite pizza chain. I was extremely happy to see I had accumulated enough loyalty points for two free pizzas. Each of us has different tastes, my boys wanted meat, but my daughter and wife gravitate to vegetables. I was able to divide the pizzas right on the app so everyone got their favorite combination of toppings. My wife reminded me we needed drinks, so I easily added soda to the order, along with a dessert pizza, and bread sticks. The app had my credit card remembered, making the process even more painless considering I was in a car.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the local pizza franchise where I knew the order was done and correct since I had received a confirmation email on my phone. Since I knew the company used an enterprise messaging service (EMS), I was even more confident our order was actually ready at that time, and they weren’t predicting to account for latency.
The Frank Sinatra of Technology
I relayed this same story to the VP of IT at that pizza company several weeks later. He was rightfully proud of his company’s IT accomplishments and how the right, reliable messaging solution enabled a loyal customer to be even happier with the brand.
We discussed how remarkable their customer service has become through IT and technology. I had entered two custom ordered pizzas into my phone as we were driving down the highway. The order went to headquarters and immediately was routed via their messaging to the right franchisee. The cooks at my desired location had the order within seconds of my phone pressing enter and starting to make the custom pizza to my specifications. Without waiting a second in the store when I picked up the order, in the immortal words of Frank Sinatra, I had it my way.
This could be a case study in how an enterprise can gain the Two-Second Advantage. The pizza company had a competitive advantage in getting our dinner purchase because their systems were integrated to provide me with a customer experience that will keep me coming back. Their product is good, but more importantly their systems and easy-to-use and reliable with no added hassles.I knew I could count on them to give me an excellent custom pizza on time, without mistakes. This is the essence of competitive advantage – letting the customer have it their way in such a convenient method that I am not just a happy and satisfied customer, but a fan for life.
